Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Cincinnati Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CINF) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,020,000 shares, a drop of 12.9% from the July 15th total of 2,320,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 672,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CINF shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Cincinnati Financial from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised shares of Cincinnati Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Cincinnati Financial from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cincinnati Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.57.

Cincinnati Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

CINF stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $131.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 216,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,988. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Cincinnati Financial has a 52 week low of $96.86 and a 52 week high of $132.69. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.65.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. Cincinnati Financial had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 20.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cincinnati Financial will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cincinnati Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Cincinnati Financial by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 188,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,367,000 after buying an additional 7,709 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 349,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,123,000 after purchasing an additional 46,595 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Cincinnati Financial by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 168,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,904,000 after purchasing an additional 48,597 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cincinnati Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $888,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cincinnati Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $179,305,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cincinnati Financial

Cincinnati Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property casualty insurance products in the United States. It operates through five segments: Commercial Lines Insurance, Personal Lines Insurance, Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance, Life Insurance, and Investments. The Commercial Lines Insurance segment offers coverage for commercial casualty, commercial property, commercial auto, and workers' compensation.